Tears of the Innocent
by Allen the Musician
Summary: Lost. The young boy fights with his feelings as he stares at the simple stone that bears the name of the only person who had ever treated him as though he were normal. "Keep walking. Never stop til the day you die." If only he remembered how. One-shot R


Disclaimer - I do not own DGrayMan

Tears of the Innocent

A lone grave underneath an old and bare tree, kept company only by the small boy who was kneeling in front of the stone that bore the name of the only person in the world that he had ever cared about. The only person in the world who had ever cared about him. Tears stung the child's eyes as he thought back to the day that this man had lost his life and he felt his grief swell once again as he thought about the one who had been laid to rest in this desolate place.

Mana Walker.

All the young boy could do was sit there and read that name that was etched in stone, reading it over and over again. The child was attempting to convince his himself that the man was really and truly gone for good. The man who had taken him in and raised him as a son when even his own parents hadn't wanted him. As though of their own volition his eyes shifted involuntarily to the arm that he kept hidden from the world, covered by a mitten and always kept pinned to his side.

The arm that was the cause of his status as outcast.

And yet Mana had always made him feel wanted. Mana had never treated him different from anyone else and had taught him to always move forward and to never stop walking. The man's words echoed in his mind. "Never stop walking. Until the day you die."

That day had came all too soon for his surrogate father.

Allen Walker had not been expecting for death to strike his surrogate father and up until the moment that it had the young boy had always thought that Mana was invincible. He had always seemed so strong to Allen and yet now his body was buried beneath the earth and his existence marked solely by that lonely piece of rock that bore his name.

Now he was alone in the world and Allen found that he couldn't remember anything that Mana had taught him. The man had been teaching the young boy how to live and how to take care of himself since the day he took him in and yet now that he was gone Allen realized that he hadn't learned anything.

He couldn't remember how to survive on his own.

Even though he had been alone for several years before he had been taken in by the man who would become his surrogate father Allen found that those memories were fleeting and couldn't give him any aid. The measure of happiness that he had found in Mana's care had served to erase the pain of the hardships that he had endured before being taken in by the clown and even those memories couldn't help him now.

All he could remember was how good it had felt during the time when he hadn't had to survive on his own. When he'd had someone looking out for him, someone who cared for him. It wasn't fair that this comfort had been taken from him and he was once again forced to face the world on his own.

As the boy sat on the cold earth, his dull eyed gaze locked on that stone that bore Mana's name, his thoughts shifted back to their days as traveling entertainer. Allen hadn't had any desire to be a clown, he didn't find them funny in the slightest, however Mana had asked for him to become his assistance and he wanted to do make Mana happy.

So a clown he had became.

He had dutifully learned all of the tricks that Mana had taught him and had smiled despite himself when his foster father had said that he was a quick learner. For Allen being a fast study had been a necessity, something that he had needed in order to survive his life on the streets. However no one had ever complimented him about his intelligence before and he had offered Mana a small smile, pleased by the small compliment despite himself.

Father and son had spent their time traveling around the world, working as street performers in order to make ends meet. The had no permanent home and were constantly on the move. Those days had been by no means easy however Allen wouldn't have traded them for anything. His loyalty belonged to the man who had treated him as if he were any ordinary boy, not deformed and disgusting as so many others had thought of him.

"Mana," Allen choked out, his eyes clearing somewhat as he came back to full awareness. Fresh tears sprang to his eyes as he was forced to face the truth once more. Nothing had changed during his daydream, Mana was still gone. The youngster didn't want to dwell in reality, where his father was gone, and would have been content to remain lost in his thoughts.

At least there he was happy.

There he wasn't alone in the world, fearing what would happen now that his one and only friend and protector was gone. Reality was harsh and the young boy would have been much more content to remain locked in the world of dreams.

But that was not meant to be.

He would have to face the harsh reality that Mana was gone and wasn't going to come back. His heart broke anew as this thought ran through Allen's mind and he choked back a sob. He desperately wanted to be strong but the pain in his soul was simply too much.

He wanted to see Mana again. If only that were possible. . .

A/N - and everyone knows what happened after that. Be careful what you wish for and all that.


End file.
